LOST TRAVELER OR ACCIDENTAL TOURIST

Life has been like a road, some roads are big, and some are small. Some are straight and some are topsy turvey. As roads would have it, there are crossroads in life as well. The most confusing, baffling, difficult whatever you call it, is the crossroad in life.

When we face a crossroad, the mind comes to a standstill as to which road to take? Which road is going to take us where! There are few roads, which will lead you to happiness, fame, glory, and fortune, but on the other hand there are few which would take you towards sadness, failure, defeat, disappointments. 

We have to decide which road we would take with completely no clue where we going to land at the end! No assurances No guarantees! Since life offers us no guarantees and assurances, it's better to take that risk and make that decisions because unless we don't decide, and go that way we will never know whether the decision was right or wrong. 

Instead of standing on the crossroad better to move forward. It's not always that the road, which we think is right for us, is going to give us happiness, there are certainly going to be heartbreaks. You might not achieve what you had thought, but at least you tried. We really do not have power on the outcome but we definitely have the power of our decisions. Taking risks, does not mean to decide in the spur of a moment! Think and then move forward.

If we had known that the road we are choosing is a wrong one and it can make us lost, or the outcome is going to be bad, we would have never decided to go that way. We will only know about the outcome once we walk that road, whether the decision was correct or worthless.

When we have to choose, we need to analyze the options we have, sometimes the options are many, sometimes very few and sometimes none at all. We need to weigh the pros and cons, make option of our own if we don't have any! But at no point take decision haphazardly. 

We cannot find that confidence to decide at times, especially when we have no idea what the consequences are going to be. Trust yourself and think that it's the best decision at that point of time. Do not regret it whatever the outcome, learn from it and make better decisions in future. Always remember life will give us more chances to make right decisions.

And after all, I believe it's all the matter of perspective, as to what you want to be a lost traveller or accidental tourist, because you never know which road opens which new horizon!

#DavezSolomon #ShazneenPathak

I ENJOY THE READ

I don't remember the title, but I remember the book had two hundred and fifty-four pages. I got the book from the bookmobile, which came to our village every three weeks, when I was a kid. It was the biggest book I had attempted to read at the time. I found it on a shelf of youth mystery books in that wonderful, book-scented bus filled with all delights of reading.

Wind-blown rain pattered noisily against my bedroom window, as I opened the cover and flipped to chapter one. For several hours I was lost in the story. I looked at the page number and saw I was on page sixty.

"That's not too bad," I thought.

"I'm almost a quarter of the way through." 

I looked at the number of pages in a book as a scary chore. Throughout my teens, I always checked the page number I read and compared it to the total number, anxious to be done with the task - whether reading for pleasure or homework. I gauged my progress by how close I was to the end. My satisfaction came when I closed the book on the last page. 

Forty years later, enthralled with a good story, I never look at the page number. I enjoy the story. The end is no longer a sigh of relieve. It's a sad moment, when I have to leave the world in the pages and return to the real one. I savor every moment of the life I am taken to between the pages.

It was those same teenage years when I longed for time to fly, so I could be on my own - to live the life I wanted. I didn't savor the pages as they turned.

Today, my final page is hopefully not too close. I want to savor the story my life pages have to offer. I've learned to enjoy the story. Each page is carefully read and loved for the new information it holds. What did yesterday teach me? 

I turn the page on tomorrow. 

What new mystery and excitement will unfold? 

I no longer rush life; I enjoy the read. 

#MichaelSmith #DavesSolomon

The Most Popular Internet Article Ever (Featuring Obama and Justin Bieber)

As any SEO (search engine optimization) expert will tell you, one of the best ways to get content to show up in Google search results is to use popular keywords and phrases—the things people search for most. So if you want to write an effective blog post, try something like this…

Earlier today, Justin Bieber and Barack Obama watched The Hunger Games while discussing the Trayvon Martin case, the Facebook IPO, and sex.

“What’s the best cure for indigestion?” asked Bieber (@justinbieber) as he got into his 2013 Ford Fusion and pumped up Katy Perry.  

“Who knows?” said Obama (is Obama from Kenya?), scratching his dragon tattoo and contemplating the best 2012 prom hairstyles while legalizing gay marriage and marijuana via his secret iPhone 5. “I’ve been too busy focusing on the economy, health care, and Jeremy Lin.”

Suddenly a NASCAR vehicle driven by Lindsay Lohan (what’s the penalty for DUI?) pulled up and out stepped Snooki, Megan Fox, Jesus Christ, and Kim Jong-un (they had been shopping for Harry Potter-themed engagement rings at Ikea) and proposed watching—simultaneously, on an iPad 3—the 2012 Academy Awards, the NBA Playoffs, Downton Abbey, American Idol, and funny pet videos.

“Sorry we’re late,” said Snooki. “I was busy applying to the best Ivy League schools—or, to use a trending expression, ‘planking to the Ke$ha Xbox Beats by Dre.’”

“Are you drunk?” asked Jesus. “And if so, what’s the best way to cure a hangover?”

Twilight beckoned. It was nearing 6:00, or 7:00 (when is Daylight Savings Time?), and Angry Birds twittered in the sky.   

“And for that matter, how do I know if I’m pregnant?” added Kim Jong-un, whereupon everyone stopped and stared like they did at Pippa Middleton at the Royal Wedding. “Uh, I mean, do any of y’all know the best way to LOSE WEIGHT TODAY…besides being starved by an oppressive regime?”

“You mean Facebook?” asked David Hasselhoff, apparently still popular somewhere. “Because I can’t log in to Gmail, Pinterest, Twitter, and Instagram.”

“Have you tried the passwords Shakira, Rihanna, Madonna, shopping, or God?”

“Not yet. I’m still on conspiracy911.”

Suddenly, the ground shook, the skies parted, and from the heavens descended a golden search term: Kim Kardashian. “Why am I alive?” she asked. “What am I doing on this earth? And why can’t I find a job?”

“Have you tried CareerBuilder, LinkedIn, or Monster.com?” sang Adele in a decidedly non-catchy 100% amateur riff (not unlike her 2012 dud, “What is fracking?”).

“Sorry, can you repeat?” said Kardashian, the occasionally blonde brunette. “I was on my Samsung Nexus Prime with Angela Merkel solving the Euro debt crisis.”

Now it was Mitt Romney’s turn. “Listen everyone, I need a plumber…I mean, a vacation. Here’s the two-part plan: assuming the Weather Channel forecast looks okay, we should board my private plane—as soon as I get the license renewed (what are the hours of the DMV?) and strap my Nyan Cat to the roof—and kick it hardcore in Las Vegas.”

 “For FREE?” asked Donald Trump. “Without cheap airline tickets or a groupon? For less than the cost of a postage stamp?”

“My treat,” said Mitt.

A BBC News reporter interrupted. “Mitt, when will the recession be over? And how do I cure depression?”

“And how do all these things affect Miley Cyrus?” added a reporter for Fox News—but not before Scientologist Tom Cruise offered, “Mental illness is an illusion, like herpes (symptoms?), cancer (how do I get one of them bracelets?), or people who don’t believe in aliens (am I eligible for an H-1B visa?).”

But the plane was off. And with Sarah Palin and Kony as pilots, the nude celebrities—by this time, they felt sufficiently comfortable around each other—flew to Vegas, a place hotter than Tahrir Square amid the Arab Spring sans Old Spice deodorant, where they reveled in games, gambling, shopping, movies, and filing tax returns with TurboTax (when do I get my IRS refund?), stopping only for a celeb charity sports tournament featuring Team One (LeBron James, Brett Favre, Maria Sharapova, Ronaldo) vs. Team Two (Tiger Woods, Serena Williams, Kobe Bryant, Derek Jeter).

“STOP THE MADNESS!” said adult star Sasha Grey, finally. “What has the world come to? Vegas, the Internet, our very lives: mired in feckless commercialism, celebrity gossip, pornography, moral chaos…”

“Agreed,” said Charlie Sheen. “A moment of silence for Whitney Houston (who died of barely legal drugs—not for diabetes, high blood pressure, or Norovirus)—and for Michael Jackson…”

“You’re missing the point!” said Jenna Jamison in support, speaking for mature women and men everywhere. “I’m sorry, but as humans living in 2012 (is the world ending?) I believe we deserve to go a full five minutes without hearing a single detail about Lil Wayne, Beyonce, or the latest Mega Millions Lottery. It’s time we all return to…”

“The simple life,” echoed Paris Hilton, “where we can finally restore our sanity (Prozac?) without having our well-meaning conscious discourse constantly hijacked by Hollywood and Madison Avenue terrorists.”

“There’s a Nicki Minaj song about that,” said Tim Tebow, getting off-track.

“No, Tim,” said Justin Bieber (known, again, as Justin Bieber). “Without getting all Occupy Wall Street, Paris is talking about life’s imponderable questions. Like: why did the Titanic sink? How do I delete my cookies? And: what is Glee?”

Hearing him, everyone around  the world stopped for a moment. And thought.

It was a moment like no other, when mankind paused at last to ponder life’s ineluctable mysteries, including their own mortality. Then Lady Gaga arrived. And the world was good.

For more time-wasting tech humor, follow  @DavezSolomon  or @justinbelmont or subscribe on Facebook.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/justinbelmont/2012/05/13/most-popular-article-ever/